Escape
by Annabel Lee 1849
Summary: AU Crossover. Panem and the USA are two different countries. A fugitive from Panem and her son find Wilson for medical treatment. When they can t pay, he decides to hire the woman as his live-in maid. But Wilson always falls in love, and how can he resist someone as emotionally broken as a Hunger Games Victor?
1. Chapter 1

**AU:**** in this story, Panem is a very secretive country. Most of the world views it in the same way that we view North Korea.**

Thea Affel woke from her nightmare with a scream. It took a moment for her to realize where she was. She was laying in a small, rickety boat crammed next to her only family, her son.

Her nightmare had begun like all of the others. She dreamed about her time as a contestant on the Hunger Games. But instead of following the normal course for her nightmares, she dreamed that her son was there, and that he was injured. A sitting duck surrounded by the other tributes.

When Atlas` name had been called at the reaping, Thea knew that they had to escape. Truth-be-told, she really didn`t think that they would make it out alive. But she also knew, because of her 'healer' job in the district, that her son was barely healthy enough to survive the next few months in the conditions of their district, let alone in the Games. Sending him to fight would have been dooming him to die afraid and alone. She knew that they were close to the United States. She pulled out a map and used the stars to find their position. The tides must`ve carried them much faster than she had expected. She couldn`t see the horizon in the dark, but using her map and the stars, she figured that they were no more than three miles from the coast of south Jersey. She just hoped that the border wasn`t being so heavily patrolled that they couldn`t sneak in.

She figured it would be easier to sneak in at night, so she grabbed the paddles and began to row. She rowed so quickly that by the time they reached land, she couldn`t more her arms. She had to wake Atlas to get up because she couldn`t pull the boat onto shore. Five hours later, the pair were sneaking into Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital.

"Mom, we can wait one day-"

"No, we`re getting you better now. In one day they might come for us."

"I heard that this country is more powerful-"

"I said no! We don`t know anything about the outside world for sure, not with outside media outlawed in Panem. We think we know the rules here, but we don`t know. This doctor has a good reputation. First we get you better, then we go into hiding for a little while." Thea and her son both knew there was no room for negotiation here. Thea was forced to be a survivor for her entire life. She was an orphan in an outlying district, which meant that she clawed and fought just to keep from starving. The survival, hunting, and stealing skills were a big part of what got her through the Games alive, but everyone told Atlas that it was her strength and her refusal to give up that made her a Victor. Atlas knew that his mom was unbelievably stubborn under the best of circumstances. When she was fighting for her son`s life, arguing was pointless.

Atlas was torn from his thoughts by his mother pulling at his arm. It scared him to feel how weak she had become. Atlas was 17, and was more muscular than anyone else in the district because his mother was an expert at getting them enough food, but he had always been impressed by the strength that of his mother, who was almost a foot shorter than him. Now when she pulled, she couldn`t even budge him. He looked at the bruising all over her face and arms. She had fought off two peacekeepers while he was unconscious after coughing up blood. When he finally woke up, he found two dead peacekeepers and his mother beaten almost to death. She had always reassured him that she would go to the ends of the Earth to keep him save, he just didn`t take it so literally before. He let his mother lead him to the stairwell and they both struggled to climb several stories in their condition.

Finally, they were on the correct floor. They found the correct door within minutes.

"Dr. Wilson; this is it!" Thea exclaimed. This was the first time she had felt real hope in weeks. She didn`t knock. In her district, knocking wasn`t the custom.

Dr. Wilson expected to see House; who else would be barging into his office? Instead, he gasped at what he saw. An enormous man, maybe 6'5", was clutching a piece of cloth as he began to cough up blood. Next to him stood an unbelievably attractive blonde. She was curvy, thin, and tiny. He would later find out that she was 5'2", but next to the tall man she looked much smaller.

"Dr. Wilson?" the woman asked. She had a thick accent that he`d never heard before.

He stared in shock for another moment before speaking, "Yes. I`m sorry, did we have an appointment?"

"No sir, but my son is very sick and I`ve read that you`re a great doctor. Please, you have to heal him."

Wilson motioned for them to sit down.

"Are you ok Mrs..."

"I`m Thea Affel. My son is Atlas. I`m perfectly fine, my son is the one whose sick."

"Thea, you look like you`ve been badly beaten. You need to get looked over."

Thea shook her head violently. "Dr. Wilson, I traded everything for American money at our underground market. The money is to treat my son, not to look at some bruises." With that Thea handed him what she clearly thought was an enormous amount of money. It probably was, where she was from. But it was only thirty dollars. It wouldn`t even cover a check-up.

Wilson smiled sadly, "Thea, this isn`t even enough to pay for a checkup... how long have you been in the country?"

He saw her face suddenly change. Rage and determine replaced the scared mother expressions on her face.

"Atlas, wait outside."

"Mama, if he can`t-"

"I said out!" Atlas got up and dragged his feet on the way out.

"Thea, there are government assistance programs-"

"No. You will not share our names with the government. How to I get insurance?"

Wilson looked a little bit shocked, "Are you here illegally?"

"They were going to kill my son. We survived the way here, you can`t refuse to treat him now," also the fierce determination was still obvious in her features, her voice cracked at the end and it was clear that she was having a hard time keeping back the tears.

"I can`t-"

"Please," she was pleading now, "I can work for you Dr. Wilson, I can do anything you want. Anything at all, even if all you want is sex. Please. You have to help him. He`s a good boy."

Wilson looked shocked at how easily this woman offered prostitution. It was pretty obvious that this was a common practice where ever she was from. But the tears in her voice broke him. He always cared too much for his own good.

"I could hire you to help with some paperwork, housework, errands. Things like that. I`ll provide health insurance." he said after a long pause.

The woman thanked him profusely. He decided to use her happy mood to his advantage.

"_But, _I want to exam you and make sure that you`re ok."

The woman nodded quickly, "Yes sir. I know I look hurt but I can still work."

It saddened Wilson that she thought he just wanted to make sure she could work. He told her she was wrong, and led her and her son to a private room. He asked Thea to sit on the bed and began to look over her bruises. When he pulled up her shirt to check her ribs, Atlas lunged at him. He was shocked to see Thea hold back her big, muscular son. She yelled at him in what must`ve been their native tongue, before sitting back down and letting Wilson finish the exam. He found a broken rib and wrist. He got her patched up and in a cast, cleaned some of the cuts on her face.


	2. Chapter 2

When Wilson was done fixing Thea up, he started his exam on Atlas. Thea excused herself to use the bathroom, and as soon as she did Atlas began to glare at him. Wilson decided to ignore him and went to feel his glands, but Atlas pushed his hands away aggressively. Wilson was shocked for a moment until the boy spoke.

"What did she agree to?"

"I`m just-"

"You are not going to use my mother as your whore to pay for my medical treatment."

"Woah, woah," Wilson was taken off guard, "I just hired her to do some cleaning and paperwork." He saw that Atlas still looked skeptical, so he continued, "That type of thing isn`t legal here. When did you two get here?"

"This morning," Atlas grumbled. He wasn`t sure that he believed Dr. Wilson, but he accepted the answer for now.

For what felt like the hundredth time today, Wilson was taken by surprise, "Where are you living?"

Atlas looked at him like he had three heads, "In the woods, I suppose. That`s what we did most of the way here." For the first time since they`d met, Atlas` dark eyes didn`t look afraid or angry; instead they looked confused. Like asking where they were living was crazy.

"What? No! Look, I have some extra bedrooms in my condo. I can talk to your mom-"

"She won`t be staying in your bed!" and the anger was back just like that.

"No, no. She`d have her own," Wilson tried to calm him down. He wondered what the men in their country had treated his mother like. "Where are you two from?" He tried to change the subject.

"Panem," Atlas mumbled. Wilson looked up in shock. That explained a lot. Panem kept everything within their borders a secret, but the common perception was that the government was backwards and crazy. And they never let citizens leave.

Wilson rubbed a hand over his face. "Ok, you know what, I`ll drive you back to my place for now. Obviously you`re not here legally, so we`ll have to figure something out." Atlas simply nodded.

* * *

><p>Wilson was glad to see another side of Atlas on the ride to his condo. He was excited and thrilled at everything he saw.<p>

"He`s never been in a car before," Thea explained.

"Mama!" he exclaimed, pointing out of his window and toward the library that they were passing, "They have real books! A whole building full! Can we go?"

Wilson couldn`t help but smile. The kid had been acting like a strong, silent brute back at the hospital, but his excitement over a library didn`t fit that persona.

"When we get you better you can read them all," Thea was smiling too, glad to see her son happy and to know that he was relatively safe.

Wilson parked and led the way up to the condo. He showed them where the two guest rooms were, then showed them around. Thea told Atlas to go take a shower. He obeyed his mom without question; it was obvious that he wasn`t an American teenager.

Once he was gone, Thea turned to Wilson with a smile, "Dr. Wilson, I can`t thank you enough. Please, what would you like for me to start working on?"

"Call me James, ok? And for right now I just want you to rest and let yourself heal."

Thea looked as though she might cry. She hugged him, and when he hugged back he could feel her shaking with sobs.

"Shh, shh," he rubbed her back and rocked slightly. He instinct was to comfort and take care of people, and that`s what he did. She pulled back, wiped her eyes, and smiled at him.

"I don`t think I`ve ever cried in front of someone before," she whispered.

He laughed, "You might have a hard time fitting in with the women here," he joked.

* * *

><p>Wilson returned to work, deflected House`s question for a while, then drove back to his condo. He was planning on ordering a pizza, but as soon as he opened the door he smelled something delicious.<p>

"Wow, what smells so good?" he called as he took off his coat.

No one answered, and when he walked in he didn`t see Thea. He only saw Atlas, eating like this was the first meal he`d ever had.

"My mom cooked," he explained with his mouth full.

"I see that. Guess you didn`t get to eat much on the trip." Wilson sat down and scooped food from different bowls and trays onto a plate. He didn`t recognize most of it, so it must`ve been ethnic.

Atlas shook his head, "My mom survived off of food in the woods when she was a kid, I had more than enough to eat. Mama says I`m just a bottomless pit."

Wilson laughed, "If everything she cooks tastes like this, I don`t blame you," he was amazed at how delicious everything was.

"She insisted that I leave enough for you. She wanted to stay up and make sure. She`ll be happy that you like it," Atlas told him.

"It`s good that she`s resting, you should be doing the same."

Atlas shrugged, "I`m on a different sleep schedule than her. She has nightmares," he explained when Wilson looked confused. As if on cue, Thea let out a hysterical, high-pitched scream. Atlas ran in an Wilson followed on instinct. He saw Thea flailing in her bed; it almost looked as though she was trying to fight someone off. Atlas tried to wake her. He wound up with a bloody lip after the first try, but the second time she woke with a start. She didn`t seem to register where she was at first, and she looked around fearfully before her eyes landed on Wilson. She cleared her throat.

"Dr. Wilson, I`m so sorry. I hope I didn`t wake you."

"No, I wasn`t asleep. Are you ok?"

"Yes," she said in a voice that left no room for further questioning.

"Ok. Thank you for dinner, it was delicious. Try to get some more rest." With that, he left the pair alone, but he couldn`t shake the scream. It was full of real terror. That kind of terror had to have come from something real.


End file.
